(September 13, 2011) U.S. Congressmen Express Support Of Full Membership For Taiwan In United Nations / 美國國會眾議員表達對台灣入聯的支持

U.S. Congressmen Express Support Of Full Membership For Taiwan In United Nations

Lawmakers Introduce the Resolution on the Same Day as the Opening of UN General Assembly

As the annual session of the General Assembly of the United Nations kicked off in New York today, several congressmen including Reps. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Joe Barton (R-TX), Heath Shuler (D-NC), Mike Coffman (R-CO), Dan Burton (R-IN), Kenny Marchant (R-TX) and Sue Myrick (R-NC) and Billy Long (R-MO) introduced resolution HCR-77 calling for Taiwan’s full membership in the United Nations (text attached).

Several resolutions in support of full UN membership for Taiwan have been introduced in and passed by the United States Congress in the past two decades. In addition, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act states: “”Nothing in this Act may be construed as a basis for supporting the exclusion or expulsion of Taiwan from continued membership in any international financial institution or any other international organization.”

Taiwan today continues to face obstacles in joining any international organizations even though it has proved to be a responsible member of the global community with a strong record on human rights, humanitarian aid and health care.

“Taiwan continues to be excluded from the UN despite a vibrant democracy, a population of 23 million and significant contributions to the world,” says Bob Yang, the President of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs. “As a result, Taiwan is unable to fully participate in and contribute its vast resources to global institutions such as the World Health Organization and is forced to enter international competitions under the name ‘Chinese Taipei’ even though the vast majority of Taiwan’s citizens consider themselves Taiwanese.”

“The fact that this resolution is introduced on the same day the UN General Assembly opens its annual session is very symbolic, and we want to remind the international community that Taiwan’s membership in the UN is not only beneficial to the people of Taiwan, but also to the rest of the world,”” Yang adds.